~ an enthusiastic meddler exploring photography

Mr Crawford’s view

I called this “Mr Crawford’s view” because of the name inscribed on the bench – evidently someone local who used to enjoy the view from this hill.

He probably didn’t see the view quite like this though. I imagine he probably saw in colour and certainly in visible light. Now I’m hardly the first to start taking infrared photos, and since digital sensors are in theory well suited to the practise it is reasonably common to see IR shots.
However my 20D is one of the worst performers for IR shooting and although I’ve had a few successes, on the whole I have been dissatisfied with my IR efforts, particularly when trying a black and white treatment. There is generally too much noise and the very long exposures sometimes work against what I want to capture, particularly for clouds.

Which is where film comes into it’s own, especially my new favourite Efke/ADOX IR820. It’s much more sensitive than my 20D in the infrared, so that for most shots I only need a second or so to get a decent exposure rather than maybe 5 minutes with the digital alternative. With the lens wide-open it’s even possible to hand hold a shot in bright sunlight, although obviously with an R72 filter, it’s impossible to see through the viewfinder. It’s got a pretty good exposure latitude, and isn’t too grainy, especially in MF. The only downside for me is that it is an incredibly curly film, which makes it a bit of a handful for scanning.